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Harassment Policy

Complaint Process

Any student who believes he or she has been subjected to hate violence or hostile harassment should immediately report incidents to the principal or other school official.

An incident report can be filled out at the office in either English or Spanish. It will then be forwarded to a school administrator. At Oak Grove Middle School, we take all reports of harassment very seriously and will work together with the student to create a more positive and welcoming environment that encourages their growth.

Students may also be referred to the Wildcat Wellness Center for additional support.

Any student who has reported a case of hate violence or hostile harassment to a school official, and believes the violence and/or harassment has not been remedied in a timely manner, may file a written complaint in accordance with the procedures set forth in the Uniform Complaint Procedures. Each complaint of hate violence or harassment shall be promptly investigated in a way that respects the privacy of all parties concerned. For more information regarding this policy, please call the Student Services Office, 682-8000, ext. 4069.

Sexual Harassment Policy

In accordance with Board Policy, Oak Grove Middle School administration and staff are sensitive to and concerned about incidences of harassment on campus.

We can only effectively stop harassment when we are made aware of the situation when it first develops. Please, if you are aware of a situation involving harassment, contact your student’s principal or vice-principal.

Definition: Prohibited sexual harassment includes, but is not limited to, unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal, visual, or physical conduct of a sexual nature made by someone from or in the work or educational setting, under any of the following conditions: (Education Code 212.5)

  1. Submission to the conduct is explicitly or implicitly made a term or condition of an individual’s employment, academic status, or progress.
  2. Submission to or rejection of the conduct by the individual is used as the basis for academic or employment decisions affecting the individual.
  3. The conduct has the purpose or effect of having a negative impact upon the individual’s work or academic performance, or of creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive educational or work environment.
  4. Submission to or rejection of the conduct by the individual is used as the basis for any decision affecting the individual regarding benefits and services, honors, programs, or activities available at or through the educational institution.

Examples of sexual harassment include:

  • Unwelcome flirtations or propositions, sexual slurs, verbal abuse, derogatory comments, or sexually degrading descriptions.
  • Graphic verbal comments about an individual’s body, sexual jokes, stories, drawings, pictures, gestures, or spreading sexual rumors.
  • Touching a student’s body or clothes in a sexual way.
  • Purposefully cornering or blocking of normal movement, or limiting a student’s access to education tools.
  • Displaying sexually suggestive objects in the educational environment.
  • Any act of retaliation against a person who reports a violation of the sexual harassment policy or who participates in the investigation of a sexual harassment complaint.

Sexual harassment is forbidden and will result in disciplinary action up to and including expulsion, if the person doing the harassing is a student, and discharge, if the person doing the harassing is an employee.

Hate Violence/Harassment Policy

District programs and activities must be free from discrimination, including harassment, with respect to ethnic group, religion, gender, color, race, national origin, sexual orientation, and physical or mental disability.

Students in grades 4-12 may be suspended or recommended for expulsion if they cause, try or threaten to cause, or participate in an act of hate violence.

Definition: 

(a) No person shall by force or threat of force, willfully injure, intimidate, interfere with, or threaten any other person in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him or her by the constitution or laws of this state or by the Constitution of the United States because of the other person’s race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, gender, or sexual orientation.

(b) No person, whether or not acting under color of law, shall knowingly deface, damage or destroy the real or personal property of any person for the purpose of intimidating or interfering with the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to the other person by the constitution or laws of this state or by the Constitution or laws of the United states, because of the other person’s race, color religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, gender, or sexual orientation.

Students in grades 4-12 may also be suspended or recommended for expulsion if they intentionally harass or threaten students to the extent of creating a hostile environment.

Definition: A hostile environment exists when harassment is sufficiently severe, pervasive or persistent so as to interfere with or limit the student’s ability to participate in or benefit from school services, activities, or privileges.

Examples of Hate Violence or Hostile Harassment Include:

  • Verbally abusing others by using bigoted insults, taunts or slurs.
  • Physically intimidating or willfully injuring others motivated in part or in whole by hostility toward the victim’s real or perceived ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, etc.
  • Materially disrupting the classroom verbally or physically.
  • Creating substantial disorder in the classroom or on the playground through interference, oppression, or threats.
  • Knowingly defacing, damaging, or destroying real or personal property.
  • Posting or circulating demeaning jokes, leaflets or caricatures.
  • Defacing, removing or destroying posted materials, or announcements.
  • Setting off explosives or making bomb threats.
  • Unusually violent assault by groups of individuals which appear random.
  • Unlawful use of the telephone (for harassment).

Bullying is a Form of Harassment

The Mt. Diablo Unified School District believes that all students have a right to a safe and healthy school environment. To that end, the District, schools, and community have an obligation to promote mutual respect, tolerance and acceptance. The District will not tolerate behavior that infringes on the safety of any student. A student shall not intimidate or harass another student through words or actions. Such behavior includes direct physical contact, such as hitting or shoving, verbal assaults, such as teasing or name-calling, and social isolation or manipulation. This policy applies whenever a student is on school grounds, traveling to and from school or a school sponsored activity, during the lunch period, whether on or off campus, and during a school-sponsored activity.

The Board of Education expects students and/or staff to immediately report incidents of bullying to the principal or designee. Each complaint of bullying should be promptly investigated. If the complainant or the parent of the student feels that appropriate resolution of the investigation or complaint has not been reached, the student or the parent of the student should contact the Principal or the Office of Student Services. The school system prohibits retaliatory behavior against any complainant or any participant in the complaint process.

General Definitions

Bullying occurs when one or more students threaten, harass or intimidate another student through words, or actions including:

  • Direct physical contact such as hitting or shoving
  • Verbal assaults such as teasing or name-calling
  • Socially isolating or manipulating a student

These incidents will be acted upon when they occur:

  • On the school grounds at any time
  • En route to and from school or a school-sponsored activity
  • During the lunch period whether on or off campus; or
  • During, or while going to or coming from, a school-sponsored activity

Specific Examples

For the purpose of further clarification, bullying includes, but is not limited to:

  • Making unsolicited written, verbal, physical and/or visual contact.

Examples include:

  • Written: intimidating/threatening letters, notes, or messages
  • Verbal: intimidating/threatening comments, slurs, innuendos, teasing, jokes or epithets
  • Visual: leering or gestures
  • Physical: hitting, slapping and/or pinching
  • Making reprisals, threats of reprisal, or implied threats of reprisal
  • Engaging in implicit or explicit coercive behavior to control, influence or affect the health and the well being of a student